Preakness Stakes Betting: Animal Kingdom, Dialed In Early Favorites

Added on May 20, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Horse Racing

As of Friday afternoon there had been $101,254 bet into the ‘win’ pool for Saturday’s 136th running of the Preakness Stakes and there’s a couple of clear early favorites. The Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom and the posttime favorite in ‘The Run For The Roses’ are the co-favorites in Preakness betting so far. Both horses are currently at 3-1 though a surge of late money on one or the other on Saturday could alter that dynamic.

At the other end of the spectrum, Santa Anita Derby third place finisher Mr. Commons is 45-1. If he stays at that price until posttime he’d be the longest priced Preakness entrant since 2004 when Little Math Man was priced at 45-1 and Song of the Sword at 51-1. Mr. Commons is trained by John Sherriffs who has an impressive resume at getting results from longshots–he guided Giacomo to a Kentucky Derby victory in 2005 at odds of 50-1.

Some clues about how the Saturday betting would go can be found in the wagering for the multi-day Black Eyed Susan/Preakness double. $696,530 was bet into this pool with Animal Kingdom an overwhelming favorite. Second choice in the Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness double is Dialed In followed by Mucho Macho Man and Sway Away.

Some racing observers have suggested that the absence of the Kentucky Derby winner at Pimlico this week has muted some of the enthusiasm surrounding the race. Animal Kingdom is based in Northeast Maryland and won’t ship in to Pimlico until Saturday morning. Even Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert–a five time Preakness winner–shares this view:

“It takes away from the buzz here. You’ve got to have the Derby winner here. Everybody wants to see the Derby winner. Even I want to see the Derby winner up close and personal. They should all be here. They need to have him here.“

Should Animal Kingdom win the Preakness there will be plenty of ‘buzz’ for the Belmont Stakes as he’d be trying to become the first Triple Crown winer since Affirmed in 1978.

Here are the current Preakness betting odds. The figure in parenthesis are the ‘will pays’ for the Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness double.

1. Astrology (102.20), 13-to-1
2. Norman Asbjornson ($558.30), 30-to-1
3. King Congie ($180.40), 21-to-1
4. Flashpoint ($165.80), 24-to-1
5. Shackleford ($120.60), 12-to-1
6. Sway Away ($49.80), 14-to-1
7. Midnight Interlude ($122.20), 9-to-1
8. Dance City ($71), 10-to-1
9. Mucho Macho Man ($49), 6-to-1
10. Dialed In ($35), 3-to-1
11. Animal Kingdom ($21), 3-to-1
12. Isn’t He Perfect ($917.60), 23-to-1
13. Concealed Identity ($483), 20-to-1
14. Mr. Commons ($231.20), 45-to-1